Year 1 on The Plains: Meet Auburn’s transfer defensive lineman Justin Rogers

A new coach at Auburn meant significant roster turnover would surely follow. Before Hugh Freeze’s team lines up for fall practices in a few weeks, his roster has more than three dozen new faces, including more than 20 transfers. In his first offseason back in the SEC, Freeze took advantage of the new landscape the transfer portal has made for college football to reshape the Tigers. Auburn brought in the fifth ranked transfer class, according to 247Sports, and led the nation with 11 four-star rated transfers. Here’s a look at one of them… No. 52 Justin Rogers, defensive lineman, junior Hometown: Detroit, Michigan (Oak Park High School) Previous University: Kentucky (2020-22) Height: 6-foot-3 Weight: 346 pounds A look back at the past: Rogers consistently earned more playing time during his three seasons at Kentucky. He played five games as a freshman in 2020, eight in 2021 and all 13 in 2022. He started 16 games over the last two seasons. Last year was a breakout for Rogers, with a career-high 35 total tackles and 1.5 for loss. “It’s huge, with that experience, because he’s not shocked about what he’s going to see on Saturday,” Auburn defensive line coach Jeremy Garrett said. “He knows what it’s going to look like, he knows how it’s going to feel. He knows what it takes to win games and to play these teams that we’re trying to beat. He knows what that feels like, so it’s awesome.” 2023 season outlook: After securing his commitment over multiple other SEC teams including Alabama and LSU, Auburn is almost assuredly going to line up the experienced Rogers as a starter against New Mexico State in the first game of the year. Rogers is going to be a crucial piece on a Ron Roberts defense that’s biggest priority is to stop the run. It’s what Rogers is best at. He’s a big, physical presence that will be right up on the line of scrimmage. Rogers’ experience is mostly at nose tackle, but he said he plans to work at other positions on the defensive line. Auburn’s defense will likely have multiple new faces starting up front and Rogers may be in line for the largest immediate role of the bunch. ESPN wrote that Rogers could be the newcomer with the biggest impact at Auburn. Rogers had arrived on campus to participate in Auburn spring practices, and coaches spoke highly of their new run-stopper. “Justin Rogers is a football player,” Freeze said. “He’s a handful. He’s going to be somebody that, Lord willing, stays healthy and we depend upon to be a factor in the middle.” -- Matt Cohen is an Auburn beat writer for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter @Matt_Cohen_